Kim In-kyung kisses the trophy after her victory in the 2017 Women's British Open Golf Championship at Kingsbarns Golf Links near St. Andrews, Scotland, on Aug. 6. She wears a cap with a logo of Korean conglomerate Hanwha. / Reuters-Yonhap

This is the first in a series on Korean companies sponsoring female golfers. ─ ED.

Golf sponsorship emerges as cost-effective marketing tool

By Park Jae-hyuk

Hanwha's logo was written on the cap of Kim In-kyung when the female golfer raised her trophy for the cameras at the Ricoh Women's British Open last week.

When Haru Nomura won the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout in May, the Korean-Japanese female golfer was also wearing her cap and orange jacket decorated with Hanwha's logos.

Korea's eighth-largest conglomerate was not the only Korean company that sponsored winners of the LPGA Tour tournaments this year.

KB Financial Group has supported Lee Mi-hyang, who won the Ladies Scottish Open, and Park In-bee, who won the HSBC Women's Champions.

Park Sung-hyun, a winner of the U.S. Women's Open, Kim Sei-young, a winner of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play, Lee Mi-rim, a winner of the KIA Classic, and Jang Ha-na, a winner of the Women's Australian Open, respectively have sponsorship deals with KEB Hana Bank, Mirae Asset, NH Investment & Securities and BC Card.

Mediheal has sponsored Ryu So-yeon, who won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and Yang Hee-young, who won the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Park Sung-hyun holds the championship trophy at Trump National Golf Club after the final round of the LPGA U.S. Women's Open Championship in Bedminster, New Jersey on July 14. Park wears a cap with a logo of Korean financial group KEB Hana. / UPI-Yonhap

Including the abovementioned companies, more Korean firms seem happy throughout the season.

Korean golfers and those of Korean descent have garnered trophies of the LPGA Tour tournaments for four consecutive weeks.

They are expected to break the previous record of 15 wins in a season.

Founding a golf team is known to cost a few million dollars in general.

Given that the whole world watches the competitions, however, the effectiveness of advertising and its impact on sales appear to be much higher than the costs.

"It is simple. Because the expected benefits are higher than the costs, companies pour money," said an amateur golf player who asked not to be named.

"There are lots of female Korean golf stars in the waiting. When companies sign contracts with them early on, the costs are minimal. But the effects might be enormous. Korean firms have no reason not to jump on the bandwagon."

L&P Cosmetics that founded the Mediheal golf team, for example, aims to expand the medium-sized cosmetics company's presences in the overseas market by sponsoring Korean and Chinese golfers.

"We expect the golf team to improve Mediheal's image and brand awareness in the global market," CEO Kwon Oh-sub said, launching the team earlier this year.

The cost of putting a brand logo on a female golfer is known to be millions of dollars for top players. For others, the amounts are much lower and they even go down to a few thousand dollars.

In case their players win at major golf tourneys, the value of their brands would shoot up. Plus, the effects will be doubled if their athletes express gratitude.

Kim Ji-hyun, the money leader of this season's KLPGA Tour tournaments, presented a good image of Hanwha, saying, "Hanwha's wholehearted support greatly encourages the players in the team."

PNS, a medium-sized company specializing in windows and doors, could also promote itself, thanks to Yang Hee-young's remarks.

"I had a hard time last year over the slump, but now I get better results after deciding to just enjoy playing golf," she said, signing a sponsorship deal with PNS. "As I have a trustworthy sponsor, I will make a bigger leap with gratitude."

In response to the players, Korean companies promise larger support for them.

"Our sponsorship allows our players to focus only on their competitions," an official of Hanwha's golf team said. "We spare no efforts to wholeheartedly support our players."